Machine for stretching and finishing rugs.



J. MGCLAIN.

MACHINE FOR STRETGHING AND FINISHING BUGS.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 31, 1910.

981,450. Patented Jan. 10,1911.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES THE mamas PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, u. n.

tinrrnn JAMES MCCLAIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN H. BROM- LEY AND EDWARD BROMLEY, COPARTNERS TRADING AS JOI-IN BBOMLEY & SONS,

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR STRETGHING AND FINISHING BUGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 10, 1911.,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns MOCLAIN, citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Stretching and Finishing Rugs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to apparatus commonly comprising a supporting table and a removable frame, whereon new rugs are tacked and stretched, and then finished, to prepare them for the market. The class of rugs heretofore so treated is that commonly known as made rugs, composed of a strip or strips of carpet fabric having a solid back, with border strips of like fabric, sewed together to form a square or rectangular rug. The process consisted in stretching the rug, by the manual operation of several workmen, who, while holding it taut, tacked it by its two end edges, to the removable frame, with its solid backing upward; the seams were then ironed over and the rug then sprayed with water over its exposed surface; after which, the frame, with the rug tacked thereon, is then removed to a drying room. Such made rugs, as also whole rugs or those in which the body and border are woven in a single piece, require to be stiffened by sizing, heretofore applied either to the yarn itself before weaving, or to the woven rug or its component strips, before stretching on the frame aforesaid.

The objects of my invention hereinafter described, are to provide a mechanism by the use of which the labor of stretching and tacking the rug to the frame, and the time employed therein, may be reduced fully one half, with consequent economy of operation to that extent; also with the result of producing an evenness of stretching on the frame, with consequent improvement in the appearance of the article, in that the relative parallelism and angularity, respectively, of body and border, can be attained with mechanical precision, which is maintained in the rug because of the usual final finishing process before referred to, of spraying and drying the stretched rug on the frame; and finally, because of the evenness and precision in the stretching, the sizing, either initially or additionally, may be applied to the stretched rug on the frame, and the method of operation, as a whole, applicable as well to a made rug, as to a whole rug, as to which latter the stretching frames heretofore used have not commonly, if ever, been applied.

To these ends, my invention consists of the combination in an apparatus or machine, of the elements hereinafter described, coacting to perform the functions and produce the results stated.

In the drawings illustrating the best form in which I have exemplified the invention Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a detached section of one of the movable stretching levers, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to said drawings: 4 designates a table which may be of any desired size and suitable shape for its intended purpose. The top 5 of the table is provided with raised, pad-like portions 6 arranged to provide groove-like spaces between them, which spaces are adapted to be filled by the bars 7 of a skeleton frame 7 which, in operative position rests firmly upon the top 5 of the table, and is removable therefrom for the purpose hereinafter described. The raised portions 6 are equal in depth or thickness to the depth or thickness of the bars 7 of the skeleton frame 7 so that when the skeleton frame 7 is placed in position upon the table with the bars 7 entering the groovelike spaces between the raised portions 6, the upper surfaces of the raised portions 6 and the upper surface of the frame 7 will be flush with each other and provide a smooth surface to receive a rug to be stretched upon and be tacked to the top surface of the frame, in the region of its bars 7 Extending parallel to one side of the table at below the top 5, is a horizontal rod 8 which is fixedly supported by its two ends in a pair of bearing brackets 9, and, if the table be very long, by a central bearing bracket 10 to maintain its rigidity.

Extending at right angles to the rod 8 and parallel to another and adjacent side of the table 41- below the top 5 is another like iaiontal rod 12 fixedly supported by its two ends in like bearing brackets 13 and a central bearing bracket 14. Mounted slidingly on the rod 8 are shown two stretching mechanisms 15 and 16, though one is sufficient if the bearing rod 8 be not too long to affect its rigidity under lateral pull; and arranged on the other rod 12 are two other and like stretching mechanisms 17 and 18, though one may be sutlicient for like reasons. The said stretching mechanisms 15, 16, 17 and 18, are alike in construction and operation; and therefore a description of one will suffice for each of the four shown.

Referring to the device 16: 19 designates a hand lever the head end of which is bored transversely and is fulcrumed slidingly on the rod 8; hence this lever 19 is adapted to be moved about the axis of the rod 8 and also to be moved longitudinally upon the same. Intermediate its length the lever 19 is formed with a yoke-like center 23, and mounted therein in transverse relation to the length of the lever, is a pair of clamping levers 20 and 21 which are pivoted to each other and to the lever 19, by means of a pin The clamping levers 20 and 21 cross each other at the pivot pin 22, and they are provided with manually operated ends extending rearward of the lever 19, with serrated grasping jaws extending inwardly of the vertical plane of the lever 19, hence when the outer end of the levers are moved toward and from each other, the inner ends thereof will also be moved toward and from each other. The inner ends of the clamping levers 20 and 21 are so mounted on their pivotal bearing in lever 19 as to extend over the adjacent edge of the stretching frame 7, and the serrated or toothed faces of the inner ends of the levers 20 and 21 are in position to engage the adjacent edge of a rug resting upon the re movable frame of the table, the under lever being cumulative of the top lever.

The operation of the machine is as follows :-The portable frame 7 is first placed upon the top 5 of the table 4 with the framebars 7 extending into the groove-like spaces between the raised portions (3 of the table, hence is firmly held against lateral movement thereon. A rug, indicated at R in the drawings, is then placed upon the frame 7 to be stretched, and one edge of the rug R is secured to the sides of the frame 7 by means of suitably spaced tacks 25 driven through the rug and into the underlying frame 7. This being done, the rug R is first stretched across the frame 7 to the opposite side S thereof, adjacent the rod 8, and the stretching devices 15 and 16 which are applied to the adjacent edge of the rug, and operated as follows: The device 15 is moved slidingly on the rod 8, to near the bearing bracket 9, in order to first stretch the rug on the frame nearest the side marked S, tacking the latter if desired, not quite its full length. In operating the stretching mechanism, one attendant grasps the upper end of the hand lever 19 in one hand and the outer ends of the clamping levers 20 and 21 in the other hand, bringing said parts into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, with the inner ends of the clamping levers 20 and 21 embracing the adjacent edge of the rug 9. He then moves the outer ends of the clamping levers 20 and 21 toward each other by one hand to clamp the edge of the rug between the inner serrated faces of the levers, after which he gives a rotative movement to the hand lever 19 outwardly on the rod 8, to stretch the rug. This being done, a second attendant following the first attendant, drives a tack 26 through the rug on the side marked 5, and into the frame 7 to fixedly hold the portion of the rug adjacent, in its stretched condition on the frame; whereupon the attendant operates the clamping levers 20 and 21 to release the rug, at that point, on side S and moves the hand lever longitudinally of the shaft a suitable distance from the tack previously driven into the rug edge and underlying frame bar; whereupon another tack is driven through the rug and into the frame, and so on, until the rug has been stretched by the third edge, marked S and secured by tacks 26 to the frame. The fourth edge of the rug, marked S may be then acted on in a similar man ner, if desired, by like stretching mechanisms 17, 18 mounted slidingly on the rod 12, and the said fourth edge of the rug may be tacked thereat to the frame 7, if lateral as well as longitudinal stretching is sought. The stretching mechanism is capable of being thrown into inoperative position on the bearing rod 8, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. After the fug has been thus stretched upon the frame 7, and tacked thereto, the rug thereon, which is so operated on backing side upward, is then sprayed and the frame and rug fastened thereon removed from the table 5 and placed in the drying room; another frame 7 then placed on the table and another'rug stretched and tacked thereon as before.

In case of made rugs formed of strips of woven fabric sewed together, in addition to spraying them in stretched condition, the machine is employed to enable the sewed seams to be flattened by an ironing operation; and, if desired, of additionally sizing them, the final drying of the stretched rug on the frame being effected as before stated.

The purpose of employing the additional shaft 12 and additional stretching devices 17 and 18, is to enable the stretching operation to be performed transversely of the table instead of longitudinally thereof or both as just described; and the purpose in mounting the skeleton frame 7 upon bars 7 which, as shown in Fig. 1, are irregularly spaced, relatively, is to permit rugs of differentsizes to be stretched upon and secured to different bars of the frame 7, and also to permit two or more small rugs to be simultaneously stretched upon one frame when desired.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A. machine for stretching and finishing rugs, comprising in combination a supporting table, a removable frame adapted to coincide therewith, means whereby said frame and table are adapted to be detachably held together in relatively operative position, a horizontally-disposed rod fixedly mounted adjacent to and parallel with one side of the table, and a grasping device mounted slidingly on said rod and adapted to engage the edge of a rug spread on said frame.

2. A machine of the class recited comprising a supporting table, a detachable frame adapted to coincide therewith, fixed means thereon to engage one edge of a rug while it is being stretched, a horizontally-disposed rod fixedly mounted adjacent to and parallel with the opposite side of the table, and means constituting a stretching device including a pair of pivoted clamping levers mounted to be slidingly moved on said rod and extending over the edge of said frame, and adapted to engage the opposite edge of a rug on the frame and stretch the same thereon.

3. In combination with a suitable table, having a raised surface composed of sections in spaced relation, a removable frame formed of bars adapted to register with the spaces between said sections of the table; a horizontally-disposed rod fixedly mounted adjacent to and parallel with one side of the table, a vertically-disposed lever fulcrumed on said rod, and movable longitudinally thereon, and a pair of clamping levers pivoted together and to the first named lever and adapted to be shifted thereby to engage different sections of the edge of a rug spread on said frame.

4. In combination with a supporting table, a frame removably supported thereon, means between the table and frame to prevent relative horizontal movement thereof, means for removably holding a rug to one edge of said frame, a stretching device mounted adjacent the opposite edge thereof, and comprising a grasping tool and a lever in which said tool is pivotally mounted, and a bearingrod fixedly mounted 011 the side of the table, upon which said tool and lever are adapted to be moved longitudinally and transversely thereof.

5. In combination with a supporting table, a frame removably supported upon the table, operatively engaging means between them, means for securing one edge of a rug to said frame, a rod extending parallel to one side of the table, a lever fulcrumed on said rod and movable about the axis thereof, and grasping means carried by the lever and adapted to extend over said frame and ena rug thereon to stretch the same.

6. In combination with a supporting-table, a frame removably supported upon the table, operatively engaging means between them, means for securing two adjacent edges of a rug to said frame, a pair of bearing rods each extending parallel to adjacent sides of the table, a lever fulcrumed on each of said rods and movable about the axis thereof, and means pivoted to the lever and adapted to extend over said frame and engage a rug thereon to stretch the same.

7. In combination with a supporting table, a frame removably supported upon the table and removable therefrom, means for securing one or more edges of a rug to said frame, a bearing rod mounted upon and extending parallel to one side of the table, a lever fulcrumed by its hub end on said rod and movable about the axis thereof, said lever having a central yoke-shaped portion, and a pair of pivoted clamping levers transversely pivoted in the yoke-shaped portion of said first named lever and adapted to extend over said frame and engage a rug thereon to stretch the same.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature this 19 day of January A. D. 1910.

JAMES MOCLAIN.

l Vitnesses I A. M. BIDDLE, R. A. DUNLAI. 

